Anna Schwalbe and her angora goats

The Nisswa Black Bear 4-H Club recently learned about club member Anna Schwalbe's angora goats by visiting them.

"Me and my mom have always wanted goats, but we did not know which kind to get," Schwalbe said.

Through their research, Schwalbe found she didn't want meat goats because they would not keep them as long as they would the angoras. They didn't want dairy goats because they would have to milk them two times per day.

Schwalbe soon began to love the angoras. When she went to pick out her angoras she found Bobbin, which they mated with a huge male angora. Bobbin had two goats, a boy and a girl, which they named Jack and Jill.

Schwalbe thought four goats would be a great number to have, so they also got Ilene. Jack and Jill are white, and Ilene and Bobbin are gray and black.

Schwalbe got all of her goats set up on her little goat farm near Nisswa, and she soon got the hang of what she was supposed to do with the goats.

She feeds her goats half crack corn and whole wheat oats two times a day. For a treat they love peanuts, especially Bobbin. She bucks and kicks just to get her favorite treat.
Jack likes them, too, and he will take a good amount of peanuts. Ilene also will eat a lot of them. Jill is shy; she does not like to be touched, but she will eat a few.

Schwalbe will shear her goats two times a year and sell their wool. There is about 10 pounds of fleece on one adult. They also clip their hooves once a month.

Schwalbe loves her goats and plans to keep showing them at the Crow Wing County Fair.

This is one of Anna Schwalbe's angora goats.

Anna Schwalbe owns four angora goats and keeps them in an area marked "Anna's Angoras."